Toyota Fuel Cell Model Price is Around 50—100K USD

Hydrogen fuel cell cars could be fairly affordable once Toyota begins selling them.

Prototypes in the carmakers fleet cost about $1 million per model, but one of the brand’s head engineers informed today that those costs have lowered to 5% of what they used to be. In few words, that means it will cost around $50,000 to make one of the alternative fuel models, which could make them commercially profitable if other factors don’t appear.

The way to retail sales will be rather hard. Infrastructure limitations will limit initial sales to California and New York and the cost for customers to buy one is likely to reach $100,000. Buyers already fight with electric models around the $40,000 level.

But that’s true for more than one reason. Aside from the high initial price of ownership, electric models aren’t usually too practical. They tend to be tiny, they’re slow to refuel and they usually only run around 100 miles before needing recharge.

Hydrogen fuel cells will be able to power bigger, heavyweight cars, will refuel quicker and will be able to run much longer distances. For example, Toyota’s fuel cell models constructed on the base of Highlander can travel approximately 440 miles.

Those won’t be offered to the public in 2015 when Toyota is going to begin initial sales. Alternatively, the Japanese brand will provide a vehicle analogous in shape to the Prius and similar to the FCV-R model presented during the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show.